Safety deposit box protector



Sept. 16, 1969 s. KOTLER 3,467,034

SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 2, 1967 FIGZ FIG. I

x M2 l4 EIZO 'INVENTOR. MAX 3. KOTLER BYWWK ATTORNEY.

United States Patent US. Cl. 109--59 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The principal feature of the present invention comprises the provision of a protective armour of steel plate, positioned in the rear of the deposit box lock, which is most commonly made of cast metal. The steel reinforcing backing member is concealed and invisible from the front. The added length of time required to get past the steel backing plate located behind each cast metal box lock will tend to discourage burglaries of this type. The armour steel back plate of this invention may also include a small cut-out portion adjacent the bolt-end permitting a locksmith to drill and tap a specific lock, utilizing a special tool, to open that particular individual lock, in the event that the user has lost his key.

This invention relates to a lock structure, particularly to a lock protection plate, for use with safe deposit boxes.

The principal object of this invention is to provide means for increasing the security of safe deposit boxes.

Still another object is the provision of a protective armour steel reinforcing backing member for use in combination with a conventitonal cast metal safe deposit lock box body, such combined structure being arranged to make it difficult to open the lock by force.

Another object is to mount a steel reinforcing backing member in a position where it would be invisible from the outside of the safe deposit lock box when the safe deposit lock door is closed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of means, such as a cut-out portion of the steel reinforcing plate, adjacent the bolt end, which cut-out portion is slightly wider than the bolt, to permit an authorized locksmith to have access to the bolt and tap the lock with a special tool to open the safe deposit box in the event that the user loses his key.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational front view of a safe deposit box lock disclosing the structural details of this invention, shown mounted on the box door;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational rear view of the safe deposit lock shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on line 44 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view of an alternative form of this invention taken on the same line as FIGURE 3, illustrating the bending of a malleable lock bolt.

The safe deposit lock structure of this invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10. This structure comprises a door 11, hung on hinges 12, and includes a cast metal box lock 13, having a horizontally extending lock cylinder 14, and a second similar lock cylinder 15, which protrude forwardly through door 11 as clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, all lock structure being mounted on 3,467,034 Patented Sept. 16, 1969 door 11. A laterally slidable bolt 16 of conventional type and operable by the cylinder lock mechanism in any well known manner is provided.

Such box locks 10 are conventional and may be made of cast white metal such as zinc aluminum alloy, for example. This material may be easily broken during a burglary by knocking or punching the cast metal box locks 10 off.

A large number of such locks 10, forty or fifty for ex ample, can be quickly knocked or broken off in fifteen to twenty minutes.

In this invention a protective armour plate of steel 20, which is shaped to receive and encompass the cast metal box lock 13, is fixed to the back of the door 11 by screws 21, or by other devices, or in any other suitable manner.

Referring to FIGURES 2, 3, and 5, in particular, there is illustrated a portion of the box side wall 17, which protrudes inwardly at the front side to form a keeper portion 18 against which the slidable lock bolt 16 is engaged, when in locked position, as shown.

A portion may be cut out of the steel backing plate 20, at 23 adjacent the outer end of lock bolt 16, to permit an authorized locksmith to readily drill or tap the lock with a special tool, for example, to open the lock box in the event that the user loses his key. The cut-out portion 23 is slightly wider than the lock bolt 16 to facilitate this operation.

This invention may be applied to a great variety of kinds and types of locks as a protector against theft, burglary, or any unauthorized opening of a locked door. We have chosen, for purposes of illustration, its application to a safe deposit box door, such as are commonly used in hotels.

Most hotels provide a bank or group of safe deposit boxes 10, which guests may use to store any of their valuable possessions, such as jewelry or money and the like, during their stay. They are similar to the type used in post olfices and banks.

The body of such locks 13, are generally made of cast light metal, such as zinc aluminum alloy. Any conventional lock mechanism (not shown) is operatively located and suitably mounted within the cast body 13. The slidable lock bolt 16, which is included, is adapted to be laterally moved outwardly and inwardly by the lock mechanism in any well-known manner. Frequently, two lock cylinders 14 and 15, in the form illustrated in the drawings, are employed. This quite common practice requires the simultaneous use of two keys to operate the lock, one key to be retained by a hotel employee and the other to be retained by the hotel guest. This arrangement provides obvious added protection.

Door 11 of the box is pivotally mounted on hinge 12 and may be swung into an open or closed position on said hinge, provided bolt 16 has been laterally moved into cast body 13 out of engagement with its keeper. When door 11 is closed, bolt 16 may be moved outwardly from cast body 13 and into locking engagement with an inwardly protruding keeper portion 18 formed in the side wall 17 of the safe deposit box opening.

Since in common practice, the cast box lock 13 is mounted in any suitable manner on the back or inner side of the box door 11, only the protruding lock cylinders 14 and 15 of the locking mechanism are apparent and visible, when door 11 is closed.

In a forceable entry attempt, as in a burglary, the cast metal box lock 13 may be quickly and easily broken by force such as applying a punch to a lock cylinder and striking it a blow with a hammer. This shatters the cast metal box 13 and it can be done very quickly and easily. Thus a very large number of such safe deposit boxes can be broken into in a very short time.

If the protective steel backing member 20, of this invention is mounted on the inner side of door 11 by fastening screws 21 or by some other suitable means, as shown in the drawings, it will enease and protect each individual cast metal box lock 13 from being broken by a forceable blow. As illustrated in the drawings, steel backing protective member 20 will be invisible from the outside. If a burglar, not knowing of this structure, made an attempt to knock out the lock by force such as by the use of a punch, it would be met by the resistance of said steel protective backing member 20. This would make the operation very difiicult and time consuming, possibly requiring half an hour to open one box.

This substantial time delay will discourage burglaries of this type.

The provision of a cut-away portion 23, formed in the backing protective steel member 20, adjacent the outer end of bolt 16, affords access to said bolt by an authorized person, such as a locksmith, in the event that the hotel guest box user has lost his key, permitting him to open a specific lock by drilling and tapping said lock with a special tool or using any other desirable method.

Thus it is readily seen that the invention herein disclosed provides a dual function, protection against burglaries of safe deposit boxes by forceable entry, and access to a particular lock by a locksmith who, with his special knowledge, could unlock the box if necessary.

An alternative form of this invention constitutes the use of a box lock housing 13, made of malleable instead of cast material, the laterally slideable lock bolt 16 also being made of malleable material as other parts of the operating mechanism may be. However, the same protective armour steel backing member 20 is mounted for protection in back of the malleable housing 13' for the same purpose and in the same manner bolted to door 11, having cut-away portion 23 in steel backing member 20, to

provide access to bolt 16. As illustrated in FIGURE 5,

the malleable bolt has been bent away from keeper 18, through cut-away portion 23 of steel backing member 20.

Another form of lock cylinder may be used within the scope of this invention. In place of using the two lock cylinders 14 and 15 as hereinbefore described, a single lock cylinder may be used in place of the lock cylinder 14, still using a control key and an additional individual tenant key to be retained by the box user. In this form, well known in the art, both keys are adapted to enter the same opening in the lock cylinder. The control key, which is retained by the hotel, is inserted first to clear the pass cut and the tenant key is then inserted in the same key hole to retract the bolt and permit the door 11 of the safe deposit box to be opened.

This description, specification, and drawings discloses one particular embodiment of the present invention. However, modifications, variations, and other applications are contemplated which come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A safety lock structure combining a cast metal housing for a lock operating mechanism, which includes a movable lock bolt, a keeper, and a protective steel plate member disposed in relation to said metal housing in a manner to prevent unauthorized movement of said lock bolt, wherein said structure is adapted for application to a plurality of safety deposit boxes, each of said boxes including a closure door, a metal housing for the lock operating mechanism, said metal housing being mounted on the back of said door, the lock bolt being laterally slidable and adapted to engage the keeper member, means to slide said bolt in a manner to engage and disengage said keeper, the protective steel plate member being disposed directly behind said cast metal housing which contains the lock operating mechanism, and fixed to the back of the closure door with a plurality of screws fastening said steel plate member to said door, said screws holding only said steel plate member in place.

2. A safety lock structure, combining a metal housing for lock operating mechanism which includes a movable lock bolt, a keeper and a protective steel plate member disposed in relation to said cast metal housing in a manner to prevent unauthorized movement of said lock bolt, wherein a cut-out opening is formed in the protective steel plate member adjacent the outer end of the movable lock bolt, said cut-out opening being slightly wider than the width of the lock bolt.

3. A safety lock structure combining a metal housing for lock operating mechanism which includes a movable lock bolt, a keeper and a protective steel plate member disposed in relation to said cast metal housing in a manner to prevent unauthorized movement of said lock bolt, wherein said structure is adapted for application to a plurality of safety deposit boxes, each of said boxes ineluding a hinged closure door, a cast metal housing for the lock operating mechanism, said cast metal housing being mounted on the back of said hinged closure door, said door back being arranged to serve as an interior wall of the safety deposit box when the door is in closed position, the lock bolt being laterally slidable and adapted to engage the keeper member, means to slide said bolt into and out of operative engagement with said keeper member, a separate protective steel plate member being disposed directly in back of each individual cast metal lock operating mechanism housing, each separate protective steel plate member being shaped to surround and protectively encase the back and three sides of each separate individual cast metal lock operating housing, the side through which the bolt slides remaining open, a cut-out portion formed in the steel back adjacent the bolt operative area which is wider than the slidable bolt, each of said separate protective members being fixed to the back of the said hinged door in a manner to be invisible from the front of the safety box when the hinged door is closed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,387,818 8/1921 Wege 109-59 1,463,182 7/1923 Voss l09-59 1,471,517 10/1923 Kline 109-59 1,471,740 10/ 1923 Kline 1O9-59 1,854,839 4/1932 Hermann 109-59 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner E. I. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner us. 01. X.R. 44s 

